Education
For most of Amanda Quintero’s childhood, going to college wasn’t an option. As the daughter of immigrant parents who weren’t familiar with higher education, the expectation was that she’d find a job once she finished high school. It wasn’t until the last semester of her senior year that a substitute teacher first encouraged her to apply to a university. That chance encounter changed her entire trajectory. It was the moment she began to believe she had what it took — that she belonged.
Today Dr. Quintero dedicates her career to ensuring that other first-generation college students have the same opportunities she had. A leading content expert on Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) and recognized student success innovator, Dr. Quintero currently serves as the Senior Advisor to the President for Inclusive Excellence and as the Equity Innovation Officer of the Global HSI Equity Innovation Hub at California State University, Northridge. The Global HSI Equity Innovation Hub, launched in partnership with Apple, will make a significant impact on first-generation college students throughout the nation, connecting diverse talent to opportunity. With Dr. Quintero’s visionary leadership, this initiative will work to transform HSIs nationally to increase student success and equip Latinx and other minoritized and historically excluded students with skills for careers in STEAM.
“This partnership with Apple is going to help us be bold and innovative about blurring the lines between the physical space, which is the hub, and the virtual space,” says Dr. Quintero. In addition to the technology and grants, Apple is providing experts to help design the space and the programming, which will be essential to position learners for success in college and in the workforce.
The goal is to move the needle on equipping a largely first-generation student population with the educational experiences and skills they will need to become first-generation professionals in STEAM fields. The Global HSI Equity Innovation Hub will do this by connecting HSIs to resources, thought leaders, and one another, sharing what works to accelerate educational equity, and leading to a more inclusive and diverse future workforce. “Diverse talent is an asset that benefits us all,” says Dr. Quintero. “It’s a full circle of giving back, investing their talent with the very communities that many of the students come from to disrupt intergenerational inequity.”
“The first time my family ever stepped foot on a college campus was the day of my graduation,” Dr. Quintero says, “and I don’t want that to be the experience of other students.”
The Global HSI Equity Innovation Hub signifies a shift in the paradigm from what students must do to be successful to what HSIs must do to serve students intentionally. It puts the onus on leadership to shine an equity lens on their structures, policies, and practices. It empowers students, faculty, and staff to transform institutions, which Dr. Quintero says is key to an effective equity-centered approach to education. The other imperative of the programming is to engage the families of first-generation college students, who are often disconnected from campus life. “The first time my family ever stepped foot on a college campus was the day of my graduation,” she says, “and I don’t want that to be the experience of other students.” Whole-family programming and outreach to students and their families will ensure that access to higher education and the completion of a degree doesn’t happen by chance.
